Fur-plucking machine



(No Model.)

I. DRESDNBR. FUR PLUGKING MACHINE.

INVENTOR ATTOR N EY WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISIDOR DRESDNER, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

FUR-PLUCKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 568,750, dated October 6, 1896.

Application filed February 10, 1896. Serial No. 578,669. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Isrnon DRESDNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Fur Plucking Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in machines for pluekin g or pulling hairs from pelts or skins.

It is well known'that the skin of fur-bearing animals is covered with short fine hairs and longer and coarser hairs. The latter it is desirable to remove before the pelt is used for clothing, and this is done by hand and also by machinery.

The object of my invention is to pluck or pull out these longer hairs more thoroughly, quickly, and cheaply than has been possible heretofore, and to waste less fur.

The use of two parallel rollers, one of which is equipped with one or more radially-disposed longitudinal blades of metal, is well known. At the meeting line of the rollers there is sometimes employed a comb, through which the long hairs are thrust, and sometimes a plate is employed, the long hairs-being passed over its upper edge. In all cases a movable carrier is employed for moving the pelt to and from the rollers.

My improved machine is composed of two elastic surface parallel rollers or rotating bodies. 7 One roller is an idle-roller and has a yielding, flexible, or elastic surface. The second roller is power-driven and has one or more projections, corners, or angles extendin g substantially in a line with its axis. These corners or angles may be slightly rounded, and they may be, and preferably are, covered with a flexible or yielding cover like leather or rubber. For the purpose of a rest the comb form is only used for plucking pelts of a peculiar and limited variety, while the plate form of rest is susceptible of improvement, in that it is difficult to arrange it in a position such that it will not interfere with the manipulation of the pelt when it is being operated upon. By my present improvement I obviate this latter difficulty and employ a rest or frame composed of a wire or red having supporting-pieces at its opposite ends, thus inclosing an open space in the form of a parallelogram. The wire or rod forming one side of this frame is arranged in proximity to the meeting line of the two rotating surfaces, and I have provided a carrier of specially useful form to movably support the pelt or skin in close proximity to the rest or frame and the rollers. The advantages of a cornered or angular roller, as distinguished from a roller having radial blades, is that blades when sharp sometimes cut the hair instead of pulling it out, and when blades are not sharp they fail to hold. On the other hand, a longitudinal projection, angle, or rounded corner covered with leather or rubber never cuts and never loses its hold of the hairs. Again, radial blades cause a disturbance of the air, amounting to a draft like the vanes of an airpump, while the gradual variation in diameter of the roller supplied with rounded corners, angles, or proj eetions causes little or no air movement. In consequence thereof the hair is more rapidly taken hold of and the result of one operation is more perfect and the work more rapid. The object is to pull the hair out and avoid removing all fur. Heretofore, when operating with blades, the operator has to go over the same surface several times and always pulls some fur, which results in a serious loss.

The improved machine avoids the considerable diiiiculty encountered where bladed rollers are employed, in that blades when broken, a disaster of frequent occurrence, are difficult to properly replace by the grade of unskilled labor employed to operate in the fur-plucking industry.

In my improved machine, employing a cornered roller, no blades are broken and any unskilled labor can operate successfully.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the machine and my improvements.

Figure 1 is a vertical front view of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a central vertical cross-section on line 1 1, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my improved cornered or angular roller, and Fig. a is a top plan view showing the form of outline of the pelt-supporting-carrier bar.

There is a table T, preferably of iron or some solid durable construction, having four legs or equivalent supports for a fiat top.

Upon the top of this table there is a pair of fixed uprights of cast-iron D and a crosspiece 0. ln suitable bearings or boxes in the uprights D there are journaled two parallel shafts or arbors '7)! and n. Upon arbor on there is an elastic roller, preferably of rubber or a rubber-surfaced roller S. This is practically an idle-roller except as it is retated by engaging with the roller next re ferred to.

R is a roller having four equidistant corners or angles. Preferably slightly-rounded corners are employed on the outside or engaging surface, and the number of corners or angles may be more or less than four. This roller, as shown, consists of a quadrangularbase E, of iron, having a groove 9 in its surface on one of the sides, and it is bored out or may be placed upon a sleeve projecting at each end, as at 5, and these projecting ends are slotted, as at 9. The surface of the roller is covered with an elastic material like leather 5', and a strip 8 presses and holds this surface .9 into groove g, so as to prevent slipping. Rings 6 and 7 slip on over the projecting ends 5 and have set-screws, as shown, serving to hold the strip 8 in position and prevent the roller from turning on its arbor 11.. Upon the arbor a is a hand-wheel w and a belt-pullcy I for applying power to rapidly rotate the arbor 91 bearing the roller R. Oil-cups c are provided at all bearings, as customary where rapid rotation is desirable; and to protect the rollers against spatter-spots from wasted oil I provide a removable sheet-metal casing for the rollers. This casing is shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1 and in full lines in Fig. 2 in section, where 10 is the back plate, provided with a ring to receive a connection with a pipe equipped with an exhaust-air pump for removing the liberated particles of hair or fur, and 42 is the removable front plate, supported by slotted holes engaging projecting screws.

11 is a removable cap-piece.

The boxes or bearings of the arbor m are each connected with vertical shafts CL and 1), upon each of which there is a toothed wheel, as a: and 1 A shaft .2 has a worm for each wheel a: and y and a handle h for turning shaft .2 to move the bearings of arbor m and thus uniformly vary the distance between all points of the roller S and the roller R. In front of the meeting line of the two rollers R and S, I place a rest in the form of an open frame F. This frame is preferably in the form of a parallelogram cut from asteel sheet or plate. The opening in this frame is substantially equal to the dimensions of the roller R, and the upper bar of the frame is on a line with the meeting line of the two rollers R and S. From the bottom of the frame F, at or near the center, there is a projection 50, having a long hole or bearing 56, and a bifurcated projection from the table T receives the part 50, while a set-screw 51 fixes the part 50 at any desired height or angle. I provide a wire frame or bent rod f to serve as a peltcarrier, shaped or formed as shown in Fig. at, the section being a short portion practically straight and in line with the surfaceline of the frame F. The carrier f is adjustably supported upon a reciprocating support. This carrier-support consists of an arm 20, hinged at 23, and a duplicate arm 21, hinged at 22. A cross-bar 24, connecting 20 and 21, is in line to be operated by engagement with an operators body when standing before the machine. There are two arc-shaped guiderods 25, operating in bearings 20 in the frame of the the table T, the arc of curvature being in a circle, of which the bars 20 form a radius. The two arc-shaped guides 25 are fixed firmly to the two arms 20 and 21, respectively. Upon each guide 25 there is a limit of movcment due to the set-nuts 27 and 28, and each nut 28 has a socket and set-screw 29 to receive and adj ustably support the frame f, so as to adjust it for any desired vertical position. Flat or blade springs 30 are fixed to the table T, and their free ends press against the arms 20 and 21, respectively, to force the carriers outward against the force exerted by the operators body.

The operation is as follows: An operator standing erect before the machine places a pelt or skin over the part 60 of the carrier framef, and resting his body against the bar 2% moves the pelt into contact with frame F. The roller R is being driven by power several hundred turns per minute, and as the long hairs of the pelt are projected over the upper edge of the rest or frame F the said long hairs are engaged or caught between the two rollers R and 25, whose elastic surfaces ongage and hold the hairs without breaking or cutting them, and as the operator moves the pelt along over the carrier f successive rows of hair project over the frame and are pulled out. As the skin or pelt is usually several times as wide as the length of the rollers the hair is removed from parallel rows, or in windrows, to use an expression common in cutting grain in the field.

It is very desirable to be able to control the hair projecting over the top of the frame F, so as to present it at the proper angle to be caught by the rollers R and S. If a rest consisting of a solid plate is employed, pressure upon the pelt by the fingers of the operator may bring it into contact with the surface of the plate and prevent depressing the pelt to a sufficient extent, while with a rest in the form of an open frame the extent of depression is not thus limited. I am thus able to provide uniform treatment for the widelydiifering lengths of hair in any given pelt or skin.

\Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a fur-plucking machine the combination of a body or roller having a general polygonal section, uniform throughout its length, a cooperating roller arranged parallel therewith, means for producing rotation applied to the first-namedroller, a rest for the skin or pelt and a movable carrier, substantially as described.

2. In a fur-plucking machine the combination of a body or roller having a general polygonal section, uniform throughout its length, a cooperating roller arranged parallel therewith, means for producing rotation applied to the first-named roller, and a rest for the skin or pelt, substantially as described.

3. In a fur-plucking machine the combination of a body or roller having a general polygonal section, uniform throughout its length, a second roller having a flexible or elastic surface arranged parallel and adjacent to the first-named roller, a rest for the pelt or skin and a carrier for movably supporting the skin, substantially as described.

4. The combination in a fur-plucking machine of a roller having an elastic surface, a roller or body having a general polygonal section, uniform throughout its length, and a flexible or elastic surface, a rest for the pelt or skin and a movable carrier for the pelt or skin, substantially as described.

5. The combination in a fur-plucking machine of a body or roller having a quadrangular section, uniform throughout its length, a cooperating roller arranged parallel therewith, means for producing rotation applied to the first-named roller, a rest for the pelt or skin and a movable carrier, substantially as described.

6. In a fur-plucking machine the combination of a roller having a polygonal section, uniform throughout its length, a cooperating roller, means for producing rotation applied to the first-named roller, a rest for the pelt in the form of an open parallelogram and a movable carrier, substantially as described.

ISIDOR DRESDNER. lVitnesses:

THEODORE L. CUYLER, J r., WALTER S. PLACE. 

